Throughout December, I treated myself to slowly working through Jackie Morris's Quiet Music of Gently Falling Snow, which was as wonderful as I had hoped. Now with Christmas behind me, I am going through it again, and it's better than ever.
In a post at Folklore Thursday, Some Words about the Quiet Music, Morris tells how the book originated in designs for Christmas cards in support of Help Musicians UK and how the imagery led to stories. And not only hers: "The cards began to gather their own stories, connections made between those who sent them, received, later found cards."
Fan fiction, metafiction, inspiration: there is a broad spectrum of creative response to art. The stories Morris wrote to link the paintings are heartfelt and work well in relation to her imagery. In Mervyn Peake's case, I would say the Gormenghast pictures are extraordinary but the fiction is even more so. In Jackie Morris's case, it's the pictures that really stand out—and yet how marvellous that she knows they can inspire myriads of stories, hers, yours, and mine.
Question: Does anyone know of other artists who devised fiction to go with their art after the fact? Do you ever make up stories to go with your art (or vice versa)?
For a review of Gently Falling Snow with more images from the book, click here. And for a collection of her pictures of animals in the snow, including some from the book, click here.